Can anyone identify this lamp for me please? I can't see a maker's name anywhere and the marking on the base is indistinct. It has a couple of interesting features: the glass has a moulded aperture for lighting, and the guard around the pre-heater wick is lifted via a small lever adjacent to the control cock. I would be grateful for any ideas. Apologies if this is not in the correct section - I'm still learning my way around.
HASAG or MEWA. Check both lanterns out in the German section of the reference gallery, and I'm sure you will be able to figure out which one this is.
That is a Mewa logo in the base. Mewa is the mark of the Metallwaren Kombinat which is the group of metal working factories of which Leipziger Werke was part which makes this lantern a Hasag made by Leipziger Werke. Mewa is not really a lamp brand but sometimes it is the only mark on these DDR lamps so I have Mewa listed as a brand in the PLC but the lamps are HASAG.::Neil::
Thanks you for your help everyone. Very much appreciated. The question now is should I try and light it? If so, what size mantle should I use?
I agree, a Hasag, but post war mewa type construction. Well worth getting going again. It looks like you are lucky in that the base of the tank appears to be solid, sometimes they can rust through. Pretty much any single tie mantle between 200 and 600 cp will fit and run. Remember to show us a picture of it running when the time comes.
It is not a HASAG ! It is a lantern made by a "MeWa", Metallwarenkombinat, a east german metall factory. Leipziger Werke is the actual factory name. I am told and so far I agree: MeWa doesn't exist as a company name. It is a type of factory. The overal shape is compliant with the model we know from Hugo Schneider, also known as the HASAG type.
No, there was a good discussion on the German original petromax forum. I have to look it up. Maybe @Reinhard has a complete historical story. There is a lot of historical information in a forum but most of the time it is in a discussion and then you have to get the right info together. I will have a look.
MeWa factory used to continue producing the formerly known Hasag 351 with the same tools from Hasag at times of DDR. But doe to lack of certain parts in socialist DDR, the have diverse variants in individual details such as vapouriser, nozzle, preheating access via glass or frame, etc Lantern is rated 300cp Works well on gasoline. Can be operated with mix of 80/20 petro/ gas. Is said to work with petro too. But i believe the straight vapourizer works best on gasoline. Some managed to attach an external alcohol preheater filler similar to Swiss Eugen Schatz Hasag.
Thank you for all your comments. It is much appreciated. I had assumed that the presence of a pre-heater would indicate that it would use kerosine. It would be interesting to know whether it would run on kerosine as I am not very confident about using petrol / coleman fuel. Is this a 'rare' lamp. or are there still lots of these around?
It depends were you are, they may not be common in the U.K. but they crop up often enough on German eBay. They will work on neat kero but as @bp4willi says, adding 20% petrol will improve the burn significantly without raising the volatility to a level which may give you cause for concern.
@tilleyscout - It looks very much like the lantern I’m working on at the moment and that has a clear MEWA logo on the base. I have assumed a 351L model number for mine, but I’m not 100%. Whilst you are working on yours you might be able to help me with a question I have about mine. I have noticed a grey waxy looking layer on the inside bottom plate of the fount and trying to figure out if it is a factory coating, a fuel residue or a tank sealer added to repair/protect the fount. Does yours have the same grey layer?
Thanks again for all the advice. I have some good quality paraffin so will try it with that first (and maybe add a dash of petrol at a later date). I'll post a picture if/when I get it running.
@Scott D I have just spent an afternoon scraping the paint off one of these mewa lamps and it did seem to have some sort of zinc coating on the steel. It did not do mine any good though as the base has enough holes in it that you could tie a mantle on it and use it as a burner nozzle. 're model number, there seems to be two possibilities, the 351L for lamps built in the style of Hasag and the 361LN for later models with small pre heater straight generator and N prefix for different threads. Great so far until in the refence gallery 2nd lamp under the 361LN there is an identical lamp but with a box marked 351L I have what I believe to be one of each on the bench at the moment and have yet to find an identical part. The threads are different, even the shade of green paint differs, I have called one Kermit going to work and the other Kermit going to see Mrs piggy, a brighter shade I have matched as Ral 6018 yellow green. Anyway, here is my examples.
@Scott D My lamp is to far gone for a tank sealer, it needs a new base welded in which is beyond my capabilities at this time. For now I am using it as a paint tester / preserving it as a shelf queen. I guess with these lamps you need to get your head around where they came from, in that their markings promoted the factories where they were made and not identifying them as consumer products.
@Scott D @James K Hello. I have advantageously sealed several steel tanks with fiberglass. Sand down to pure metal and apply 2 layers. Then they can be painted. The fiberglass holds up well to 3 atm pressure Tom
That’s interesting! I’ve never worked with fibreglass before. What kind of adhesive would you use or is the adhesion part of the actual fibreglass process?
@Scott D In Denmark you can buy a set where everything is included, There are also instructions for use with the set, so you can read up on the use. Will think one can buy similar sets in GB. Price approx. 15 GBP Tom
Moin, The lamp is a Mewa 361 L The easiest way to distinguish the 361L from the 351 L, which is derived from the HASAG 351 models, is through a few details. The shaft of the handwheel is much more secure, the carburetor has no mushroom head, the preheating bowl has a smaller diameter, the burner is designed as a clay burner, as with Peromax, and the tank has three small feet. The Lamps run well whith Petroleum and Gasoline
@Tom Pedersen - Good to know, thank you. None of mine are quite that bad yet but the time will come I expect!
Thanks @Reinhard and Jörg, But why address it only to me? I guess more people are interested. It would be great when Anton Kaim can make his next book about the HASAG story.
